Dark
by Lydia En. E. Ways
Summary: Thunderstorms rage through Chicago, causing blackouts. A terrified Abby calls Carter as she fights with the memories that are surfaced by the dark . . .


~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
  
  
Exhausted by her long day, Abby drops her purse on to the floor. Her apartment is warmer that the 100 degree air outside. She walks over to her window to try and open it wider, flicks on the fan, and plumps down on to her couch. There's nothing she can do. Or nothing that she wants to do. It had been a horrible day at work; the many people in the ER to enjoy the little air-conditioning that there was.  
  
She had more patients than she normally did, and each one was never satisfied:  
  
"Nurse, can you get me this."  
  
"Why hasn't this come yet... "  
  
The list of demands went on in her head until she couldn't take it anymore and reached over to the remote control and flicked on the TV as to distract herself.  
  
"Today was another scorcher! The city reached record highs today, and numerous people where complaining of heat exhaustion..." The weatherman was saying.  
  
"Oh yeah. That's right." Abby thought. That is all that she dealt with today in the ER. Tired and hot people looking for a reason to sit in the air-conditioning for a couple of hours.  
  
"Well Bob, what is tonight's forecast looking like?"  
  
"Well Diane, it will be cooling down. There are large storm system that will be sweeping the area with large winds and heavy thunderstorms. There have been reports of blackouts throughout the western suburbs. The storm is slowly nearing the city. Tomorrow will be..."  
  
Abby flicked off the TV. And lay back on to the sofa, collapsing within seconds of her head hitting the pillow.  
  
  
  
~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
"Are you off?" Susan asked Carter as he dropped off charts at the front desk.  
  
"Yup, finally!" He flashed a smile at her as he walked toward the doors that made her pour over with envy.  
  
"Lucky!"  
  
Carter walked outside. It was already dark. He looked up to the sky. Large purple clouds where rolling in. As he walked off towards his Jeep, thunder rumbled in the distance.  
  
  
  
~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
  
  
Abby sat on the sofa watching an old episode of Friends. The rain was pouring down on the street and there was an occasional flash that illuminated night sky. The fan was blowing, but wasn't cooling the air in her apartment. "Why did I not get an air-conditioner?" Abby moaned. Suddenly there was a very bright flash and then a boom followed less that a millisecond behind that made the windows rattle. The lights flickered and then when out.  
  
"Shit." Abby muttered to herself. She hated the dark. But this kind of dark even more. The dark where there was no light at all. The dark where you can't see a thing, and the air is completely still. There was only one time that she had been in the dark like this. She took a sharp breath as the memories were conjured up into her mind.  
  
"No Mum! Stop! Let me out!" Sweat started to form on her face. She did not want to think about it, she did not want to remember, but the memories came flooding back. She had nothing to do to take her mind off of these memories, no one to go to. Alone, just like she was that night 27 years ago. She couldn't be alone. Trembling, she slowly reached out for the phone.  
  
  
  
~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
Carter was blaring his music as he was driving home. He thought of what he would do that night: Watch TV, eat dinner. Nothing at all exciting. His train of thought was disturbed by the ring of his cell phone. He quickly turned down his radio and answered the phone.  
  
"Hello"  
  
A shaky voice responded, "Carter?"  
  
"Abby? Abby, is that you?"  
  
"Yeah. Carter where are you?"  
  
"I'm driving home. Why?"  
  
"Can you come over?"  
  
"Abby, what is it?"  
  
"Power went out." She said dryly, then added: "Can you come over?" with much more urgency apparent in her voice. Carter's mind was racing. What could be wrong that she needed him to come over there right now?  
  
"Abby, what's wrong?"  
  
Her voice was quivering. "Carter, I need you here..."  
  
"Abby, don't do anything, okay? I am coming right over there."  
  
"Okay...Carter?" She started to say, but he'd already hung up.  
  
  
  
~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
  
  
Carter dashes up the stairs to Abby's apartment. The hallway is pitch black. He walks closer and closer to the door, fearing what he will find inside. His mind races with the possibilities. He opens the door, but he can't see a thing.  
  
"Abby?" His voice breaks the silence that echoed the room. He hears someone stirring in front of him.  
  
"John, is that you?" Relived to be able to hear her voice, he becomes a little more relaxed. "Yes, its me. Abby where are you?" He slowly makes his way across the room to the table and lights the two candles that where on it. The orange light from the candles illuminate the room. His eyes travel across the room until he sees Abby. She's curled up in the corner of the sofa, with her arms wrapped around her legs. He quietly walks over to her and set the candles down on top of the coffee table.  
  
"Abby, what is it?"  
  
"I didn't want to be alone."  
  
He sits down next to her and wiped a small tear off of her cheek. "Why are you crying?"  
  
She is silent for a while, trying to figure how she can tell him. "The dark brings back memories of my childhood. There was this one night where my mother was really drunk, and she started running around the house breaking things. I tried to make her stop, but she locked me in a closet. The closet was so dark, darker than this room was, and I could hear my mother through the door. I heard her fall and blackout. I heard my brother crying, screaming for me, and I couldn't get out of the closet to help him, to help my mother. . ."  
  
Carter watches her as the tears slowly fall down her face, and her broken sobs echo out of her mouth. Her head falls on her hands and she weeps, and Carter's heart sinks.  
  
"God, I'm so sorry."  
  
She tries to pull back the tears. She has to stop the emotions, she tells herself. Don't show your weakness, be strong.  
  
Carter places his hand on her arm. "Abby, it's okay to cry. You don't have to hide it all. You don't have to be alone."  
  
"But I am alone. I'm always alone with my troubles, and my memories. I am always alone John."  
  
Carter looks into her face with sympathy. "Abby, you don't have to be alone. You don't have to suffer by yourself."  
  
Abby meets his loving gaze, and a tear rolls down her cheek. She feels her heart being ripped open. All of the sadness that she had hidden for her entire life s breaking out of it's chains. She leans against his warm skin, as he wraps his arms around her and plants a kiss on her forehead.  
  
Abby cries in his arms. Cries away all of the pain, and the suffering that she has had to live through.  
  
Yet somehow now, she feels safe. Even among her troubles and worries. For the first time, she feels safe as she weeps into Carter's chest and he nuzzles her hair with his face. Yes, Abby decides, she is safe now.  
  
~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
  
  
La Fin  
  
~ * ~ o ~ * ~  
  
  
  
  
  
~ * ~ * Authors Note * ~ * ~  
  
Wow, my first independent fic! Let me know what you thought . . . Email me, just to let me know that you read it. I would love any advice or opinions on this fanfic. Thanks to Alanna for introducing me in to the wonderful world of Carby! 


End file.
